What DAC would you use if you got the Mjolnir ? If you would be using a soundcard then, good as the Mjolnir is, DEFINITELY the Bifrost/Lyr combo ... the Lyr is amazing for the money - just get the GE tubes to start with ... then when you have saved up a little, buy a pair of Amperex tubes - Early Bugle Boys and Early Orange Globes are best ... but the Orange Globe "A-Frames" are also nice ... there's a tube rolling thread you can check out when you have a little more money, but for now, the Bifrost/Lyr combo is certainly not "chopped liver" !!

Yep, that's the point I don't have a DAC unless my Fiio X3 does count as a DAC with the Mjolnir...? But I doubt it'd be a viable combination. So I just go for the Lyr+Bydrost combo instead of Mjolnir alone.

Thanks for the tube suggestions kothganesh and NinjaHamster, I have yet to dig deeper in that issue. By the by, the factory tubes of the Lyr are that..."minimal" to those what you listed above? But I don't want to get off topic.

Yep, that's the point I don't have a DAC unless my Fiio X3 does count as a DAC with the Mjolnir...? But I doubt it'd be a viable combination. So I just go for the Lyr+Bydrost combo instead of Mjolnir alone.

Thanks for the tube suggestions kothganesh and NinjaHamster, I have yet to dig deeper in that issue. By the by, the factory tubes of the Lyr are that..."minimal" to those what you listed above? But I don't want to get off topic.

Glad to assist. I quickly got off the stock tubes and following the recommendations in the tube rolling thread ( a must read ) I settled on the Amperex.

I'm new here (Just joined, but have been reading here a while). I must say, it is very interesting reading about some equipment I haven't heard about before. I have a question though. I just recently got a LCD-2.2 and came across this thread and read the past 50 pages or so. I also have a NAD D1050 as a DAC before I got the LCD. While listening is very pleasant with this dac/amp combo, I would like get more out of the cans. When I auditioned them at the store, they were hooked up to Mcintosh D100 through its headphone amp and liked the sound there. Would it be ok to get an Amp and hook it up to the NAD Dac? It does have balanced pre-outs on the back, would it be advisable to use those for the interconnects rather than the RCA pre-outs?

Reading the threads, I was thinking of picking up the Schiit Mjolnir and a set of cables, but that might be a few months away. I would probably just use the NAD's built in Headphone amp for now. Not sure if anyone has heard things through this DAC yet, so I don't know how it compares to other DACs in the price range. The store only said that it sounded like NAD's house sound, if that means anything.

I wouldn't worry about volume. Both will drive them to high volumes but the Lyr will be a bit better overall. A lot better if you roll in the correct tubes. You can change the base response as you like depending on the tubes.

Asgard2 is probably for the most part going to serve you as well. The Lyr is just a good deal more powerful for when you're pushing serious bsness loads. The Lyr will have more bass since tubes open the option of having a warmer sound signature with a deeper bottom end with your cans depending on how you run your stuff.

Thank You for the replies. I am between the Lyr and the Asgard2. Is the difference in sound noticeable? I am more heavily towards the Asgard2 at the moment. Using the Asgard2 will I be able to take full advantage of what a headphone like the LCD2 has to offer? The LCD2 says to power with at least 1 watt? The Asgard has 1 watt, the Lyr has 4 watts?

Right now I am running the headphone from a DJ Mixer (Allen & Heath Xone 92) that states it uses a 1 Watt chip...I don't think I am getting the most out of my headphone from this...

I am planning on connecting the headphone output of my mixer to the input of the (lyr or asgard2)...

Thank You for the replies. I am between the Lyr and the Asgard2. Is the difference in sound noticeable? I am more heavily towards the Asgard2 at the moment. Using the Asgard2 will I be able to take full advantage of what a headphone like the LCD2 has to offer? The LCD2 says to power with at least 1 watt? The Asgard has 1 watt, the Lyr has 4 watts?

Right now I am running the headphone from a DJ Mixer (Allen & Heath Xone 92) that states it uses a 1 Watt chip...I don't think I am getting the most out of my headphone from this...

I am planning on connecting the headphone output of my mixer to the input of the (lyr or asgard2)...

Asgard good. Lyr better. If $200 isn't that big of a deal for you, always take Lyr. I'm just trying to appeal to your sensible side by telling you that Asgard will indeed do the job.

Hi guys,
I just just bought phones, and listened to them.
My Lcd-2.2 with Lyr with Siemens seems inferior to He-5Le.
I did not read through all this long thread, but Lcd with Lyr seem not very good.
I will try with different tubes, and will post the review.

Lyr seems to be 50/50 on reviews....some say it matches well...others say it doesn't match at all...I am going for a warmer sound, as much bass impact, slam as possible...obviously with quality. So far vs the Asgard2, the Lyr is said to have more impact and warmth...I have been running most of my mid-fi and iems through a JDS C421...I think having an amp such as the Lyr may just be an upgrade for all my headphones...minus the Iems...

Lyr seems to be 50/50 on reviews....some say it matches well...others say it doesn't match at all...I am going for a warmer sound, as much bass impact, slam as possible...obviously with quality. So far vs the Asgard2, the Lyr is said to have more impact and warmth...I have been running most of my mid-fi and iems through a JDS C421...I think having an amp such as the Lyr may just be an upgrade for all my headphones...minus the Iems...

50/50 ? Where are you finding all these people who say the Lyr doesn't match up with the LCD-2 ?? It is generally regarded as a great combination, and out of the responses you have received directly to your question, 3 people have said the Lyr is better (but more expensive) and one person has said it is not a good combo ... that makes a 75/25 % split towards the Lyr in direct response to your question ... and across the whole of Head-Fi's history, there are probably less than 10 people who don't think the Lyr and the LCD-2's are a good match. 50/50 on reviews indeed !!

The ultimate solution is a current mode amplifier like Questyle or Bakoon to prevent the phase distortion for signal band.
Speaker motor is driven not by voltage but current that generates magnetic flux to produce acoustic pressure.
But expensive .

What phase distortion are you referring to exactly?

And voltage produces magnetic flux as well. The only difference is that the driver sees a much higher source impedance, which can cause changes in frequency response depending on the driver. Orthos are pretty tolerant, but dynamics can have some problems.